The relationship between literature and family can be complex and yet at the same time, the knowledge that literature offers us can help to disseminate that complexity into a clearer understanding of who we are. It is not that we are ignorant of our family and our ancestors. It is that we don't always understand the motivation or the intentions of actions created by our family. Literature can bring to light some of that awareness. For example, the writings of Aristotle, Plato, Darwin and William James give us insight into the mind, the thought process and the psychological influences that have a strong bearing on decision making. What would motivate a member of our family to go to war? What would cause our grandparents to leave their country and all they knew, in order to move to a new place? And what secrets are never told yet seem to have a powerful hold on the family?
Literature from such writers as Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling and Ernest Hemingway bring to life times and events whether fiction or fact, that reflect a different time for our grandparents and great grandparents. That world determined paths and choices that we might not understand today except that these writers allow us to see and understand another place and time.
Who we are as individuals is a clear reflection of the values, judgments and beliefs that our parents have and those same influences determined how our grandparents raised our parents. So when we read through many types of literature, we begin to experience moments of insight that we might otherwise miss.
Literature provides an important connection to our past and to the heritage from which we come. Since we cannot escape the past, we are better served by embracing that which we don't know or understand, in order that we can accept fully who we are.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Cheryl, just to pick one point from your post... I think it's interesting to point to the notion of "family secrets." The idea that there's some secret, some skeleton in the cupboard, motivates much narrative, both ordinary, everyday gossip and discussion, and also much literary narrative. This introduces the idea that the family is somehow a puzzle that needs to be deciphered. I think that's an important image.
This was a very well thought out post that you wrote Cheryl. Clearly you have a good idea of what the author is trying to convey through his very colorful work. Good job. Fernando
That is very interesting. I have never thought about family and literature relating in that way. I have never thought that from literature I am able to see what happened in the past. It is very thought provoking!
Post a Comment